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How to Decide What Paint to Use

By , About.com Guide

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How Can You be Sure You've Chosen the Right Paint?
Paint Colors for Realistic Skin Tones

If in doubt, buy a few small tubes and try out a brand or type of paint.

Photo © 2010 Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc.

Quite simply, you can't be completely sure until you've worked with it for a bit. You'll soon discover whether you enjoy working with it and the results, or not. Be sure that any frustrations are with the paint itself and not because your painting doesn't look as good as you visualized it. The gap between what you think your painting should look like and how it actually looks is one that will narrow with experience as you acquire more painting technique and skill.

If you like different things about different paints, you could mix them – then you'll be working in what's called mixed media. If there's an art college near you, see if they offer an introductory course on a particular medium. You get to try the paint among other novices and will learn basic skills. It may also provide you with a contact for cheaper art materials.

Pastels and watercolor pencils are popular cross-over drawing/painting mediums; painterly effects can be achieved with them while retaining the immediacy of drawing. Other painting media are gouache, tempera, and encaustic. Special paints are used for painting on silk or fabric, which are heat set (usually with an iron) to stop them washing out.

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